I just re-watched TNG “In Theory” (S04E25) and Data says that the door to his quarters is set to only allow humanoids to enter or leave when Geordie finds Spot in the hall.
Whilst I get that it would be dangerous for Spot to wander the ship freely I think it’s kind of mean to keep him locked in a small room like that forever. There doesn’t seem to be any cat toys in the room but maybe the computer is capable of some sort of environmental enrichment we can’t immediately see.
Wait, didn’t spot become pregnant with an unknown other ship cat? This would imply at least some kind of free roaming.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Spot
I checked a transcript, and saw this line between him an Barclay, implying not only that Spot “escaped,” but that there are other cats also loose:
Huh. I always thought Spot was male. Probably because I’ve always had male cats myself.
He was male. But not in that episode.
And he’s orange.
I used to have an orange female cat…
I have one sitting on me rn. They’re uncommon, but exist
gonna find the father and get child support kibble lol